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IFC announces two new comedy series

The Birthday Boys, a scripted sketch comedy series from Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad) and Ben Stiller (Zoolander) and The Spoils of Babylon, a scripted comedy series that counts Will Ferrell among its executive producers.

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The Birthday Boys, a sketch comedy series from Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad) and Ben Stiller (Zoolander), and The Spoils of Babylon, a scripted comedy series from Funny or Die that counts Will Ferrell among its executive producers, were announced Thursday by cable's IFC.

Spoils, according to IFC, "is a television adaptation of the best-selling epic novel by fictional famous author Eric Jonrosh," played by Ferrell. The series' ensemble cast is still to be announced.

"This is a crazy and maybe even a stupid idea," says Ferrell in IFC's announcement. "IFC is either really courageous or really stupid, which makes them the perfect partner for us." Spoils' other executive producers include Adam McKay (Step Brothers), Matt Piedmont (Casa de mi Padre) and Andrew Steele (Saturday Night Live).

IFC's announcement included what one can only assume is a tongue-in-cheek description of the series: "In the vein of The Thorn Birds and Winds of War, the epic story of The Spoils of Babylon spans three generations, taking viewers from the oil fields of Texas to boardrooms in New York City, through world war battlefields and velvet sheeted bedrooms." IFC has ordered six half-hour episodes, to premiere late this year.

The network also has given the go-ahead to 10 half-hour episodes of The Birthday Boys, to start later this year.

"The Birthday Boys are too good to just be making viral videos," Stiller said in the announcement. "They are funny enough to fill time between episodes of Portlandia. I'm thrilled to be working with Bob Odenkirk again on a TV project. We try to do something together every 20 years or so."